Money is only valid in places where the respective minting authority has the power to guarantee the value of its coins.

After the bishops took over the Basel mint in the 11th century, Basel coins were accepted as legal tender in the immediate hinterland, in southern Breisgau, the southern Alsace as well as the adjacent Jura region. By forming a series of coin federations from 1377 onward, including the so-called «Rappen Coin League» with Freiburg, Colmar and other towns in the region, the circulation of Basel coins spread markedly.

Today we know from written sources as well as from coin finds how far this circulation reached.